TC G-Major 2?

[MrDan666]

Any of you guys using the G-Major 2 in your rig? If so, how do you like it?

I'm putting together my new live rig for 2012 and I decided that i want to go back to using a rack Effects Processor again.

I had an original G-Major in the past which was pretty cool and it never colored my tone when used with my Parallel Loop. But the thing was built like crap and always had major issues with the Parameter wheels not working properly.. Had to constantly open the thing up and clean the contacts inside otherwise the wheels would not work etc.

Looks like they fixed that issue in the G-Major 2 and they also added some nice effects like Modulated Delays (this is what I'm interested in the most) and i heard the Reverbs sound much nicer on the G-Major 2 also.

They're a little bit pricey brand new here in the UK, but i should be able to score one at a decent price on eBay or the Classifieds forums.

Worth checking out?

 

[mrkmas]

I came across the original Gmajor in a store and know what you mean. The whole front panel felt a little flimsy, especially the wheel. I used to own the Gmajor2 and the front panel was improved, and the wheels feel much stronger and never had an issue with them. I would recommend it

 

[glpg80]

i owned a g major 1 and gigged it heavily for 2 years so i also know exactly what you are talking about. all of the parameter wheels not working/jumping, the wheels literally coming off/falling apart, the 1 second delays with PC MIDI, and all of the headaches with setting gains properly.

GMII still has delays if you do any major patch changes involving MOD - however there is a fix someone posted about creating a master patch that stores every single possible effect you can think of , copying that patch for each individual patch and turning off what you dont want. this prevents the massive delay issues involving MOD. this is not required for patches not involving MOD, they fixed those in the GM II.

the GM I had software on the forum here that you could use to access and edit the parameters on a computer. the GMII does not and will not work with that same software, only the g-system software works with the g-system as well so you will lose that software capability option that you had in a GM one.

i still hate setting all of the damn gain levels in them - i got away from tc electronics all together because of it. tone wise its a great move as their tri-chorus effect does sound great, but thats not my style/cup of tea for tone so i never bothered jumping for the II.

i'd say go for it if you're ok with the above

 

[MrDan666]

i owned a g major 1 and gigged it heavily for 2 years so i also know exactly what you are talking about. all of the parameter wheels not working/jumping, the wheels literally coming off/falling apart, the 1 second delays with PC MIDI, and all of the headaches with setting gains properly.

GMII still has delays if you do any major patch changes involving MOD - however there is a fix someone posted about creating a master patch that stores every single possible effect you can think of , copying that patch for each individual patch and turning off what you dont want. this prevents the massive delay issues involving MOD. this is not required for patches not involving MOD, they fixed those in the GM II.

the GM I had software on the forum here that you could use to access and edit the parameters on a computer. the GMII does not and will not work with that same software, only the g-system software works with the g-system as well so you will lose that software capability option that you had in a GM one.

i still hate setting all of the damn gain levels in them - i got away from tc electronics all together because of it. tone wise its a great move as their tri-chorus effect does sound great, but thats not my style/cup of tea for tone so i never bothered jumping for the II.

i'd say go for it if you're ok with the above

Thanks for the detailed review man, that's all good info to know.

As long as the G-Major 2 is an improvement overall in quality and tone compared to the original, then I'm definitely interested in trying one. The patch delay doesn't worry me at all, since i only ever use effects in my Parallel FX Loop, so even when the effects drop out for a second, my dry signal doesn't change at all so nobody ever notices anything.

Actually the Tri-Stereo-Chorus effect was something i had forgotten about.. That would be great since i'm a big fan of those 80's Lukather/Huff/Landau style clean sounds. I can put that effect to good use when i'm going for my Michael Bolton tone

 

[MrDan666]

I came across the original Gmajor in a store and know what you mean. The whole front panel felt a little flimsy, especially the wheel. I used to own the Gmajor2 and the front panel was improved, and the wheels feel much stronger and never had an issue with them. I would recommend it

Glad to hear they fixed the front panel issues when they designed the G-Major 2. I'm glad they went with new wheels too, those wheels on the original G-Major were terrible IMO.

 

[glpg80]

As long as the G-Major 2 is an improvement overall in quality and tone compared to the original, then I'm definitely interested in trying one. The patch delay doesn't worry me at all, since i only ever use effects in my Parallel FX Loop, so even when the effects drop out for a second, my dry signal doesn't change at all so nobody ever notices anything.

Actually the Tri-Stereo-Chorus effect was something i had forgotten about.. That would be great since i'm a big fan of those 80's Lukather/Huff/Landau style clean sounds. I can put that effect to good use when i'm going for my Michael Bolton tone

np Dan

They used much higher grade AD/DA's in the GM-II compared to the first one, but the other reason i didnt like the II was because it gave it that over-sampled eventide attitude, overly prestine is what i always heard. since you're using a parallel loop it probably wont matter much but to say the GM-II sounds the same but better than the first one is far fetched. does it sound different? yes. better? thats a subjective answer, i didnt think so. i would consider a used G-Force for that GM-I tone but better. a GM-II for anyone looking for a g-system without the g-system pricetag.

 

[nevusofota]

The GMII has been in my main gigging rig now for a few years. I am NOT a tweeker. I made 5 presets when I first bought it and haven't made any major changes since. I use it in the loop of my 5150III for just reverb, delay, and the trichorus. I couldn't ask for anything more. I never had an issue. It's a piece of gear that I never have to worry about. I use a Liquid Foot Pro to change 6 presets. Each preset changes the GMII, GCX, and my amp channels. I have absolutely no lag in sound between presets. Even when switching to a preset with the trichorus. I never have to think about the unit, which is why I like it so much.

 

[MrDan666]

np Dan

They used much higher grade AD/DA's in the GM-II compared to the first one, but the other reason i didnt like the II was because it gave it that over-sampled eventide attitude, overly prestine is what i always heard. since you're using a parallel loop it probably wont matter much but to say the GM-II sounds the same but better than the first one is far fetched. does it sound different? yes. better? thats a subjective answer, i didnt think so. i would consider a used G-Force for that GM-I tone but better. a GM-II for anyone looking for a g-system without the g-system pricetag.

Good point about the G-Force.. I will actually look into one of those too and see what kind of prices they can be had for on the used market. I know the G-Force is a pretty killer sounding unit, certainly an improvement over the G-Major and G-System!

 

[nevusofota]

One more thing, I run the GMII in a loop in my GCX. I do not hear any loss of tone when I take the GMII out of the signal path. I've asked many of my guitar player peeps as well as my band members and not one could tell when it was in or out of the chain.

 

[MrDan666]

One more thing, I run the GMII in a loop in my GCX. I do not hear any loss of tone when I take the GMII out of the signal path. I've asked many of my guitar player peeps as well as my band members and not one could tell when it was in or out of the chain.

Good to know, thanks!

 

[scottkahn]

I've been a G-Major user for at least ten years, also a G-System user for 3, and now switching to the G-Major 2. I LOVE the G-System but my new rig is more complex and there aren't enough instant-access buttons on the G-System foot controller for my needs, so I've gone back to a dedicated MIDI foot controller and the G-Major 2, which is the same basic sound engine as the G-System.

G-Major 2 is significantly better sounding than the original G-Major when used in SERIES loops because the a/d converters are a few generations newer technology. In your parallel loop, it's less of an issue.

We did the most in-depth reviews of these products you can find anywhere at MusicPlayers.com, and I think you'll find a few of them to be of particular interest: head to head G-Major vs. G-Force, and G-Major 2. All of these reviews (and G-System if you lean that way) are found off this page:

http://www.musicplayers.com/reviews/ind ... rsRack.php

One thing that was interesting to me was that I went into that head-to-head review expecting to be blown away by the G-Force vs. the G-Major, but the nice thing about our testing methodologies is the standardized approach we take, and in the end, to my own surprise, I found myself preferring the G-Major.

NOTE: The G-Major 2 has a free, dedicated software editor from Vyzor -- nearly identical to the G-System editor.

Scott